Leading the Way | China's First Civilian Liquid Hydrogen Demonstration Project Commences Operation

On May 18, a domestically developed commercial hydrogen liquefaction project with a capacity of 5 tons per day, utilizing hydrogen expansion refrigeration technology, was officially commissioned at the Dingzhou Industrial Park of Risun Group.

The project is China's first civilian liquid hydrogen demonstration project covering the entire value chain of production, storage, transportation, refueling, and end-use. It marks a major engineering and commercial breakthrough in liquid hydrogen production and logistics, fills a critical gap in China's civilian liquid hydrogen sector, and makes Risun Group the first domestic enterprise capable of independently operating a large-scale liquid hydrogen value chain.

According to Wang Huadong, General Manager of Risun Group's Dingzhou Industrial Park, the project is a national key hydrogen-energy demonstration initiative. Its core hydrogen liquefaction system achieves an energy consumption of 11.84 kWh per kilogram of hydrogen, representing a reduction of more than 40% compared with conventional small-scale helium-cycle liquefaction processes.

The project will primarily support liquid hydrogen demand from major national programs in aerospace, electronics, and transportation, while also advancing applications such as long-distance liquid hydrogen transportation and commercial operation of liquid hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks. It is expected to serve as a replicable and scalable model for the development of China's liquid hydrogen industry.

Liquid hydrogen offers significant advantages, including:

• A volumetric energy density more than 800 times greater than gaseous hydrogen;
• Superior economics for long-distance transportation;
• Strong capabilities for large-scale storage;

• Broad compatibility with end-use applications.

As a result, liquid hydrogen is widely regarded as a promising solution for aerospace applications, long-duration energy storage, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

To support the project, Risun Group established a dedicated liquid hydrogen team comprising senior industry experts and doctoral researchers. The team successfully addressed key technical challenges, including:

• Multi-system coordination for large-scale civilian liquid hydrogen production;
• Ultra-low-energy-consumption process optimization;
• Long-term safe and stable cryogenic storage;

• Intelligent full-process operational management.

These achievements have enabled the company to establish a complete engineering and commercial operating framework for liquid hydrogen industrialization.

Currently, Risun Hydrogen has already developed a comprehensive hydrogen ecosystem in North China, including:

• Four high-purity hydrogen production bases with a combined capacity of 34 tons per day;

• Five hydrogen refueling stations with a total refueling capacity of 7 tons per day.

Together, these assets form a mature integrated ecosystem covering production, storage, transportation, refueling, utilization, and R&D.

Looking ahead, Risun Group plans to advance the development of a 30-ton-per-day liquid hydrogen facility, explore the deployment of a liquid hydrogen refueling station network across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, expand liquid hydrogen heavy-truck applications, and further strengthen its liquid hydrogen value chain. The company also aims to establish a national-level liquid hydrogen supply center and a liquid hydrogen equipment testing and certification platform, supporting the large-scale commercialization of China's liquid hydrogen industry.